Texas Conference of Churches Blog http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog Building Relationships, Building Unity Thu, 16 May 2013 15:53:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 What Counts? http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/05/16/what-counts/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/05/16/what-counts/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 15:53:47 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=69 How many congregations? What’s the Sunday attendance? What’s the membership? How many members in the denomination? How many have left? How many are left?

Head count takes up our attention in the church, just as it does in many organizations. We need people to do the work of the church, and we need their support. [...]]]> How many congregations? What’s the Sunday attendance? What’s the membership? How many members in the denomination? How many have left? How many are left?

Head count takes up our attention in the church, just as it does in many organizations. We need people to do the work of the church, and we need their support. There is nothing wrong with tracking attendance trends. But allow me to ask, are we stopping the count too soon?

If we as Christians are concerned about spreading the Gospel, living a life that follows the teachings of Jesus, perhaps we should be asking not just how many, but what are those counted doing? After all, church is not something we visit; it is something we are.

Hours centered in prayer and shared in public worship
Days given in service to others
Time listening with hearts open and mouths closed
Minutes imaging with the courage needed for looking forward
Lives committed to the challenge, scandal, and love that Jesus showed the world.

Now, start counting…

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/05/16/what-counts/feed/ 1 Aching Bones http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/04/07/aching-bones/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/04/07/aching-bones/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2013 16:31:06 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=64 We brought Java home, an enthusiastic bundle of fur, and got him acquainted with his crate. Every night he’d be tucked in with an old towel and something to chew. Each morning, we’d let him out, and stand back ruefully as more dog than we started with emerged.
Of course we wanted him to [...]]]> We brought Java home, an enthusiastic bundle of fur, and got him acquainted with his crate. Every night he’d be tucked in with an old towel and something to chew. Each morning, we’d let him out, and stand back ruefully as more dog than we started with emerged.
Of course we wanted him to grow, but we had no clue just how much was to come.

When our son was in Junior High, he outgrew his twin bed, feet dangling off of the end. He grew so fast in those years that his knees and legs groaned in protest. His bones ached all of the time.

I think that the Church is experiencing the discomfort of having outgrown our cozy beds. The Body of Christ is stretching and reaching into places it couldn’t see before. We have slopped over out of our buildings into social media to meet with one another. One congregation can’t contain every type of community program to help those in need so we travel to Mexico with our Lutheran friends, build a house with the Presbyterians, and make sandwiches shoulder to shoulder with the Spiritual but not Religious. At the end of the day, we kneel at Compline with Roman Catholics, savoring a rich shared heritage of prayer.

Particular congregations and denominations are experiencing decline in numbers, yet all around us human beings are searching for God with enthusiasm and imagination that stresses our bones. So, what do we do? Sit around complaining about the pain, or take it as a sign that our Body has a message for us. We are growing in unexpected ways. We don’t know quite how this will come out, but don’t you think we should invest in some new furniture? Maybe some that can grow with us….

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/04/07/aching-bones/feed/ 0 Expectations http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/03/01/expectations/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/03/01/expectations/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:04:57 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=61 Last month the Texas Conference of Churches held its Third Annual Celebration of Christian Unity, this time at The Sanctuary in Austin. The event is an opportunity for musicians, storytellers, visual artists, etc., to present their take on “Expressions of Faith”. They can choose anything as long as it’s family friendly and fits time and [...]]]> Last month the Texas Conference of Churches held its Third Annual Celebration of Christian Unity, this time at The Sanctuary in Austin. The event is an opportunity for musicians, storytellers, visual artists, etc., to present their take on “Expressions of Faith”. They can choose anything as long as it’s family friendly and fits time and space constraints.
We have amazing, talented people accept our invitation to be part of the program. We have food. It’s a party. It’s a wonderful opportunity to experience the vision and artistry of others.
The first year we had about 100 people.
The second year we had about 120 people.
This year we planned for about 100.
We had 5 people who were not part of the program attend, around 60 total.

When it was time for me to get up and talk about the work of the Texas Conference of Churches, I was flustered. Usually this is a piece of cake for me. I will talk to anybody, any time about our mission and ministry. But I was knocked out of my usual comfort zone by the empty seats in front of me. Sure we had lots of great artists and musicians, but where the heck was everybody else? We sent out hundreds of notices, made phone calls, posted invitations on Facebook. Major disappointment seeped into me, starting a cascade of questioning about what we were doing wrong, about the people I thought we could count on who weren’t there, about what we were doing in the first place.

Idiot. It was right in front of my nose. When I left the church to go to the reception hall at about 8pm, a number of the musicians were clustered together exchanging contact information. At 10pm I had to make an announcement for everyone to go home because we had to close up. They were having such a good time that I had to kick people out.

Our mission is to create opportunities for Christians of all sorts to come together and to make connections. With that new support and inspiration they can better serve their communities.

Nailed it.

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/03/01/expectations/feed/ 0 Intentional Community http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/01/31/intentional-community/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/01/31/intentional-community/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:01:29 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=58 I’ve been thinking about ecumenism through the framework of intentional religious communities.

We don’t all have to live on a farm, raise chickens and share our soup bowls for this kind of intentional community. We can share a general geography, or even an online social relationship as our basic bond. Committing to pray for and [...]]]> I’ve been thinking about ecumenism through the framework of intentional religious communities.

We don’t all have to live on a farm, raise chickens and share our soup bowls for this kind of intentional community. We can share a general geography, or even an online social relationship as our basic bond. Committing to pray for and with one another, sharing challenges and imagination for ministry, and being public about this relationship so that it might be a witness to the larger Church is what is required.

But allow me to imagine a little bit further…

-A shared house or apartment in Dallas where new ministers of different denominations live together. Their various congregations/judicatories share the cost of the property, or pay housing allowances. These ministers commit to one meal a week with the rest of the group, and have a prayer chapel set up in an area so that they might begin their days with morning prayer. They support one another by simply being together, listening to tales of never-ending congregational meetings (all under the dome of silence, of course), and learn best practices as well as what not to do from each other’s travails.

-An ecumenical chapel built from the ground up in a small community where the cost of maintaining real estate for each tiny congregation is prohibitive. This chapel is shared, so the base architecture is simple. Each tradition/congregation brings its own décor for worship and takes it away afterwards. Building a new structure gives this sacred space its own particular sensibility, having never been “theirs”, but only “all of ours”. Community baptisms by those who recognize the validity of each tradition’s beginning sacrament might become natural. Imagine Easter and Christmas without religious segregation, where neighbors and relatives could sing and pray side by side.

-Imagine an online community for Texas seminarians of all denominations. They can share theological conversation and confusions, pick up tips on preparing for ordination exams, and build relationships with colleagues that may last well into their professional lives as ministers. TCC is planning to bring this particular intentional community to reality this year. Watch for it!

For the rest of us, let us take up the challenge to form community by praying for one another regularly. Let’s start with that foundational intention and see where it takes us, together.

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/01/31/intentional-community/feed/ 0 The Christian Sort http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/01/22/the-christian-sort/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/01/22/the-christian-sort/#comments Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:59:48 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=55 We Christians self-sort. On Sundays, more likely than not, we can be found with people who are very much like ourselves – who speak the same language, share the same skin color, understand the nonverbal culture of a particular kind of worship, and who know the words of the same hymns (or should I say, [...]]]> We Christians self-sort. On Sundays, more likely than not, we can be found with people who are very much like ourselves – who speak the same language, share the same skin color, understand the nonverbal culture of a particular kind of worship, and who know the words of the same hymns (or should I say, praise music?). We are doing what humans have always done – sort ourselves into groups for social ease and for protection. You could make a pretty compelling case that to do so is only natural, woven into our DNA.

We Christians wrestle with ideas. We try to figure out what God wants for our lives, our place in the universe, the meaning of Life. We argue and lift things up to the light to get a better view. We challenge norms, and stretch, and push, looking for new and relevant ways to spread the Gospel. We meet with new people, gather new ways of thinking and talking. We experience different cultures. Projection screens, online prayer groups, and texting, replace reams of photocopies, newsprint and phone trees. You could make a pretty compelling case that for human beings to push against boundaries and the familiar is only natural, part of who we are as God’s creation.

We need it all. The Church needs it all. We need comforting arms just as much as we need a not-so-gentle push onto new paths.
There’s a beauty in this symbiosis. When we trip on the new and unfamiliar ground, there are people to help us up and hold us until we are ready to get back out there. And when we are ready (whether we may know it or not) those people will firmly set us on our feet once again.
You could make a pretty compelling case that to do so is only natural, part of who we are as Christians, reflecting the image and likeness of God.

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2013/01/22/the-christian-sort/feed/ 0 What are we waiting for? http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/12/05/what-are-we-waiting-for/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/12/05/what-are-we-waiting-for/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:39:18 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=52 Advent. What are we waiting for?

I was talking today with my Wednesday morning text study group about the difficulty of using traditional Christmas (read: Winter) imagery here in Texas. My experience of growing up in Massachusetts with leafless trees, darkness driving to work AND coming home, black ice, etc., is a world away from [...]]]> Advent. What are we waiting for?

I was talking today with my Wednesday morning text study group about the difficulty of using traditional Christmas (read: Winter) imagery here in Texas. My experience of growing up in Massachusetts with leafless trees, darkness driving to work AND coming home, black ice, etc., is a world away from the current 80 degree, still mostly green-leafed Texas December. I’m wondering if I should mow the weeds still happily popping up in my yard!
Where’s the dark and gloom?
The traditional language of Advent seems as incongruous as an inflatable penguin bobbing on a clipped St. Augustine lawn.

Maybe our Advent images shouldn’t rely on Northern sensibilities, but on pushing our way out of the Too Much Stuff that starts cascading around Halloween. There’s too much food, too much frenzy, too much shopping, too much money spent on too much stuff.

Unless we find a little empty space, it’s tough to discern that we are waiting for anything at all – let alone a Light to fill our Darkness.

But in that space, in a quiet moment, I long for reconciliation. A Church made whole. I long to be blinded by that Light.

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/12/05/what-are-we-waiting-for/feed/ 0 Not just Yes or No… http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/11/08/not-just-yes-or-no/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/11/08/not-just-yes-or-no/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:39:02 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=49 There are days, maybe even months and years, when we just don’t feel it. Faith is not a steady unchanging companion for most of us. Like all relationships, our relationship with God is dynamic. That means there are times when we just don’t get along.

Because we tend to encounter God and what we know [...]]]> There are days, maybe even months and years, when we just don’t feel it. Faith is not a steady unchanging companion for most of us. Like all relationships, our relationship with God is dynamic. That means there are times when we just don’t get along.

Because we tend to encounter God and what we know about God within the structures of religion, that not-getting-along thing applies here, too. It’s not hard to see why people might wander away from religion simply based upon the inevitable ebb and flow of faith.

These days, though, there seems to be more to some of that wandering.

In the face of what is a turbulent time for Christianity in the United Sates, a lot of conversation today, both within and outside of church leadership, seems to be assuming that participation in religion is just fading away.

Reginald Bippy in his piece, Welcome to Religious Polarization (http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=10100 ) says, not so fast:

An important word of caution: my research in Canada has been showing, that, at least to date, residence in the no religion category often tends to be short-lived. Many teenage Nones are looking to religious groups for rites of passage that may result in re-affiliation. Nones who marry “Somethings” frequently raise their children as “Somethings” and not uncommonly follow suit. Further, large numbers of adult and teenage Nones indicate they have not slammed the door on involvement that they deem to be worthwhile.

“Yes” now doesn’t mean it will always be “Yes”. Saying “No” doesn’t necessarily mean “No” forever. So let’s not be so quick to pronounce the end of religion. Let’s focus on the people around us who are in and out of faith, reach out our hands, and head on down the road together.

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/11/08/not-just-yes-or-no/feed/ 0 God’s Face http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/09/29/gods-face/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/09/29/gods-face/#comments Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:22:56 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=46 What does God look like to you?

At the Texas Conference of Churches, we understand ourselves to be a catalyst organization. It is our job to bring Christians together so that they can tell their own stories of faith in their own voices, hear the stories of others without filter, and encounter one another in [...]]]> What does God look like to you?

At the Texas Conference of Churches, we understand ourselves to be a catalyst organization. It is our job to bring Christians together so that they can tell their own stories of faith in their own voices, hear the stories of others without filter, and encounter one another in the telling.

Recently we’ve been asking ourselves if words are always the proper medium for sharing stories.

Words can limit our ability to communicate. Ecumenical efforts usually revolve around a technical theological vocabulary that is unfamiliar to most Christians. Carefully crafted formal documents can only get us so far. For the rest, we might just need crayons… or music… or dance…

What does God look like to you? From October 1 to December 1, our office will be accepting your digital answers to that question. Take a photo of a sculpture you’ve done, take a picture of your kids laughing, paint a canvas full of color and uncertainty. Ask your Sunday school class to break out the colored pencils and crayons and dig in. Scan their work and email it to us (tcc@txconfchurches.org).

February 8, 2013, at the Sanctuary on Exposition Blvd in Austin, we will be throwing a party — our annual Celebration of Christian Unity. During that program, we’ll show the collection of God’s Face responses in an animated slide show. Come join us! After that we will post it on YouTube.

Send us your imaginings. Plan to watch the video with some new friends. Tell your stories with words or not. Meet each other in the telling.

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/09/29/gods-face/feed/ 0 Ecu-what? http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/09/01/ecu-what/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/09/01/ecu-what/#comments Sat, 01 Sep 2012 23:30:27 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=43 The Texas Conference of Churches is a 43 year-old-ecumenical organization. Most people don’t know the word “ecumenism” so my bumper sticker answer for what we do at the TCC is, “We help Christians play nicely together – in Texas!” People usually laugh, then shake their heads and make a comment to the effect that we [...]]]> The Texas Conference of Churches is a 43 year-old-ecumenical organization. Most people don’t know the word “ecumenism” so my bumper sticker answer for what we do at the TCC is, “We help Christians play nicely together – in Texas!” People usually laugh, then shake their heads and make a comment to the effect that we have a lot of work to do, and thank God somebody cares about this.

Wow. How sad is that? Our reputation out there in the world is that Christians are a cantankerous lot, constantly in-fighting, judgmental, and exclusionary. That’s a pretty far cry from the song of my childhood, “…they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.”

What happened? The short answer is that we got in our own way and made Jesus’ command that we love one another as God loves us, way too complicated. We dared to parse out the extent of our love, and questioned who might be deserving. We each set ourselves up as the standard against which others must be measured – a religious equivalent of the ugly American demand that everyone speak English and serve McDonald’s. Our denominations developed out of sincere attempts to follow the teachings of Christ more authentically, but perhaps inevitably became the sources of contention and division.

Denominational identity is important. These distinctions are theological, cultural, historical and are part of the family story of Christianity. Ecumenism is not about erasing any of this reality, but about embracing the richness of a story told by multiple voices from multiple perspectives. Not one of us is exactly the same as anyone else. Why then do we expect (demand) that human beings all understand God in same way?

“Ecumenism” isn’t exactly a household word, but it should be. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be able to sing “they’ll know we are Christians by our love” without any irony – even in Texas!

_____________________________

The Texas Conference of Churches’ Art and Faith project exists to bring expression to all sorts of experiences of God. Contact us if you are interested in adding your vision (tcc@txconfchurches.org).

]]> http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/09/01/ecu-what/feed/ 0 Born in Fire and Wind http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/08/06/born-in-fire-and-wind/ http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/2012/08/06/born-in-fire-and-wind/#comments Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:31:32 +0000 Laura Lincoln http://www.txconfchurches.org/blog/?p=38 The August 2012 issue of The Lutheran has as its cover story, “Spiritual Nomads – a blueprint for young adults in ELCA congregations”. Reaching out to 20/30-somethings who self-identify as Spiritual but not Religious is a big topic right now. The Texas Conference of Churches’ upcoming 2013 Assemblies (one in Fort Worth, the other in [...]]]> The August 2012 issue of The Lutheran has as its cover story, “Spiritual Nomads – a blueprint for young adults in ELCA congregations”. Reaching out to 20/30-somethings who self-identify as Spiritual but not Religious is a big topic right now. The Texas Conference of Churches’ upcoming 2013 Assemblies (one in Fort Worth, the other in San Antonio – dates and venues TBA) will be engaging Rev. Carol Howard Merritt’s Reframing Hope as our way of diving into this conversation.

It’s an important and compelling issue… but maybe not always for the right reasons.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard folks in different congregations and denominations lament, “If only we had more youth. That would solve our problems.”

It’s understandable. Having more (engaged) young people can bring energy and a sense of future, as well as legacy. The presence of children assures older adults that their story will live on, and that what they care about matters.

Understandable… but it is the Church that was born in fire and wind that should be the focus of our concerns of legacy.

That said, Church without historical appreciation and cultural context is idiosyncratic, individualistic, and without roots. A future of Christians who each sculpt their own meanings based solely upon personal insights and emotional responses is problematic. Christianity is at heart relational. There is meant to be an ebb and flow between personal prayer and public worship, spiritual growth and communal responsibility. We are baptized not into ourselves but into Christ, in relationship with one another. We commune as we lift our voices in song and taste the bread and wine.

Young people will not save static institutions – nor should they. Likewise, individuals who carry Christ only within their own hearts but do not reach their hands to others cannot extend the Gospel.

Christians are being called to find new methods, to collectively respond to this challenge, to cherish our shared legacy, and to move forward into an exciting rebirth of who we are as Church. Where is the wind taking us now?

 

 

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